The First Omen review

THE FIRST OMEN: 

A GENUINELY FRIGHTENING ORIGIN! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

20^TH CENTURY STUDIOS

Nell Tiger Free makes a nightmare in The First Omen

 

            A young woman discovers a horrific conspiracy at a church in Rome in The First Omen, the latest installment of the Omen film series and a prequel to the 1976 Richard Donner horror classic. I actually just watched all the previous Omen movies (With the exception of the TV film, Omen IV: The Awakening) for the first time in preparation for this review and I have to say I was quite impressed by most of them. 

            While there have been tons of films over the years about demonic and evil children, The Omen (1976) was unique by having the antichrist child himself, Damien be seemingly oblivious to his actions rather than him just acting evil from the start. Not to mention the story is very engaging, the mystery is fascinating, the performances all-around are excellent with Gregory Peck and Harvey Spencer Stephens being the biggest standouts. 

            The 1978 sequel, Damien – Omen II I also found myself enjoying with it revolving around a 12-year-old Damien slowly understanding his demonic abilities and eventually accepting his role as the antichrist. While I’ll admit 1981’s Omen III: The Final Conflict was the weakest of the original films and has an uneven narrative, even that movie is entertaining with a pre-Jurassic Park Sam Neill portraying an adult Damien and hamming it up like crazy…The Omen (2006) remake is awful and one of the most soulless horror remakes I’ve ever seen despite a decent cast. 

            Now we have this prequel from Arkasha Stevenson (Channel Zero, Legion, Briarpatch) in her feature film directorial debut depicting the events that happened before the original film and released shortly after another horror movie that explores female body autonomy with Immaculate. I didn’t see Immaculate so I won’t be doing any comparisons to it and will be talking about this film on its own. 

            After seeing it, I have to say not only is this a solid Omen movie but it might even be the best since the original. It’s a thoroughly creepy and disturbing film with an intriguing plot that leaves you wondering where it’s going and the acting is great throughout, this film succeeds where The Exorcist: Believer failed. 

            The film is set in 1971 and follows Margaret Daino (Nell Tiger Free-Game of Thrones, Servant, Wonderwell), a young woman from America who is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to a church. While there she encounters a darkness that causes her to question her own religion and uncover a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate. 

            The film also stars Sônia Braga (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Angel Eyes, Wonder) as Sister Silvia, Ralph Ineson (Harry Potter franchise, The Witch, The Creator) as Father Brennan, Bill Nighy (Underworld franchise, Shaun of the Dead, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3) as Cardinal Lawrence, Tawfeek Barhom (A Borrowed Identity, Worlds Apart, The Rhythm Section) as Father Gabriel, and Charles Dance (Underworld 4 and 5, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, The King’s Man) as Father Harris. 

            Overall, The First Omen makes up for the sins of the past (The Omen (2006)) by delivering (No pun intended) a fresh, frightening, and engrossing look at the events leading up to the birth of Damien that plays squarely on the franchise’s strengths. Where the 2006 remake was an uninspired beat-by-beat rehash of the original with cheap jump scares added in, this goes back to the more atmospheric nature of the earlier films and relying heavily on suspense, creepy visuals, moments of grotesque imagery, and music and sound design with an occasional jump scare. 

            There is one particular jump scare towards the climax that was very effective because of how well built-up it was. I’d rather not spoil it and if you’ve seen the movie you know what I’m talking about. 

            I’m not a fan of jump scares in horror films mostly when they aren’t executed well, but the few times jump scares are utilized here they stick the landing and used sparingly. The rest of the scares come from its music score, disturbing themes, creepy environments, and use of practical effects. 

The birthing scene in particular is incredibly unsettling and hard to watch with little to no CGI used which gives more of a horrifying impact as it’s happening. There is also another sequence where a character gets possessed in one continuous shot of the person cracking their own limbs and making sickening noises, it’s a common trope in scary films but this is one of the most brilliantly shot, acted, and edited variations of this cliché. 

I was also very invested in how the film views the Catholic church and that it explores the idea of two versions of Christianity with one being about the lessons God teaches and doing good and the other focusing on doing horrible acts in the name of God. This is a work of fiction, but it really does make you think about religion and the effects it has on the world both positively and negatively without being preachy. 

I’m not familiar with much of Nell Tiger Free’s work, but I thought she was fantastic as Margaret and found her easily relatable and compelling throughout the film. She’s not this chosen hero/villain character who finds her calling to fulfill her destiny, she’s an everyday woman and nun-in-training who ends up in the middle of this dastardly plan in the church and often feels like audience’s surrogate to what they’re seeing onscreen, definitely a great modern horror movie protagonist that I could get behind during the terrors. 

The First Omen is a horror prequel that honors its predecessors without being fueled on nostalgia bait and gives a shocking and unsettling experience in its own right. It honestly makes you forget this was the same year Night Swim and Imaginary came out. 

But one question still remains, can this also work as a prequel to the South Park episode, Damien?